The event takes place Oct. 20 at U.S. Bank Arena in downtown Cincinnati.

Eastman last fought in the UFC against UFC newcomer (and now UFC light heavyweight champion) Quinton Jackson. Eastman suffered a second-round knockout and then headed to Las Vegas and headlined a show for the upstart Steele Cage Promotions’ IFO promotion. Dropping to 185 pounds, Eastman picked up the organizationâ??s middleweight title by defeating Rob Kimmons via unanimous decision in a fight-of-the-night performance.

Eastman, who now returns to the Octagon, confirmed with us that he has two fights remaining on his current UFC contract.

For the upcoming UFC 77 show, Eastman was originally slated to face Drew McFedries, who like Eastman, was dropping from 205 pounds to 185. However, a group of Miletich Fighting Systems fighters recently contracted staph infections in their Iowa gym. McFedries, too, contracted an infection, was hospitalized earlier this week and subsequently scratched from the fight card.

Earlier this week, news of Maia’s signing became public. The 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Submission Grappling champion will now get the toughest test of his young MMA career.

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Since the early days when the sport was anything but a mainstream endeavor, the MMA industry has thrived and survived through various websites, forums and, perhaps most importantly, social-media platforms.

In this week’s Trading Shots, Danny Downes and Ben Fowlkes look at Ronda Rousey’s 34-second victory over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 and try to put it into terms that capture the moment without getting swept away by it.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?